Monday, February 2, 2009

"SELECTION ALEXANDER VON ESSEN" WINES

Today, I am not going to talk about food, but about wine. Often referred to as the "Juice of the Gods" (for obvious reasons), it is the perfect accompaniment to any delicous dish and the icing on the cake when having a wonderful meal...

Some time ago we have discovered "Selection Alexander Von Essen" (see link in German/contains more info) wines and have not been disappointed by any of the bottles we have bought and which were tagged with that "brand" as they are all phenomenal vintages!

The German-based importer Baron Alexander Von Essen has transformed his passion into a rewarding career as a wine dealer. In the 80´s, he had the great idea to to offer wine lovers a special selection of excellent wines fom Europe (Hungary, Switzerland, Italy, France, Germany, Austria and Spain) and the New World (South America & South Africa). So, he decided to incite the greatest winemakers to vinify the grapes from the best plots of land separately and to create top-grade cuvees for him.Baron Alexander Von Essen likes to discover new regional wines and believes that the most expensive wines aren't always the best and that more affordable ones can also be as interesting. For him the culture of wine shows a fascination for nature and he shows as much interest for traditional winemakers as for newcomers...

The design of his bottles is also very important, because, on the outside, the packaging is the only thing that sets a bottle apart from the others. In his opinion, the bottle, the label and the appearance should correspond to the quality of the wine. That is why the packaging of all "Selection Alexander Von Essen" wines has been designed by himself.

Wines, wines we can say also Gold of the Gods too! Nice collection and varietals! I enjoy a lot the Sauvignon Blanc with fish, soft cheeses. You should taste our Tannat red wine in Uruguay strong, good body and ideal for meats.

Good to know about! I love discovering new wines and I definitely agree that there are some very interesting ones that aren't always the most expensive. Twice a year in Paris there is the Salon des vignerons indépendants and I love to go because you get to taste all sorts of wines from small producteurs.

I live in a wine growing region where most of the owners and producers come from Europe, as well as some of the vines. We have a winery called St. Hubertus where they say they make the wine in the "Swiss way" because they are 4th generation winemakers whose children started a winery here.

Thanks for the great wine tips. Always looking for new ones to try. By the way, if you love Sauvignon Blanc, do try the Villa Maria ones. They have racing acidity and tropical fruit notes. Sipping this makes it feel like summer year-round.

I also believe price doesn't equal quality. There have been so many blind tastings where less expensive quality wines win over pricey established brands. And really, with wine it all comes down to your tastes.